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After immigrating to the US from Colombia, Felipe Lopez spent the next 20 years honing his expertise in the design and development of furniture, retail fixtures, and store environments. To address customer needs while creating quality designs, he takes a unique approach that promotes transparency, embeds clients in the design process, and allows him to serve as a bridge between design and engineering.
“I like to sit down with my clients along with other stakeholders and just start asking what you want, what you need, why, why not, goals, and expectations,” says Lopez, a Pereira native who grew up immerged in his carpentry family business. “In the middle of the conversation, I’m hand sketching, trying to put their needs on paper in a 3D format.
“That way, from the very first meeting, the client knows the direction we’re taking, why something may or may not be possible, and how we can work with certain constraints,” he continues. “It gives an instant response to problems, offers solutions, and saves a lot of time on back-and-forth.”
In 2020, Lopez became senior design development engineer at Innomark Communications, which delivers visual marketing solutions “to attract, engage, and convert.” The company’s diverse set of both structural and graphic designers and engineers specialize in displays, signage, retail environments, experiential retail, and packaging. For Lopez, it was the perfect opportunity.
“It’s a big-sized company, and you always want to work in a company that offers a variety of clients,” he says. “It’s been exciting to work on a variety of things and for the important brands that Innomark works for. I love to sit down with a blank piece of paper and start designing for them.”
In his role, Lopez designs showcases, displays, and other retail solutions. He collaborates closely with a team of sales and project management professionals that assist in meeting client needs for the most recognized brands at big-box retailers. He also works directly with clients to elevate their ideas before they’re passed off to the production team, making their designs more efficient.
“It’s been exciting to work on a variety of things and for the important brands that Innomark works for. I love to sit down with a blank piece of paper and start designing for them.”
Felipe Lopez
Besides his ability to connect design and engineering, Lopez’s tenure at Innomark has been the beginning of a new passion—sustainability. In recent years, the company has committed to developing and implementing cleaner practices in addition to incorporating sustainable materials into its retail experience solutions. The end goal is to generate a new business culture aligned with the circular economy.
To push that vision into the future, Lopez is pursuing his master’s in sustainable design. He and his team are also evaluating materials and processes to make them greener. For Lopez, these small changes are paving the way to a huge impact.
“It’s difficult, but it’s needed, because we have to stop polluting,” he emphasizes. “Moving forward, we’re going to transform how packaging is made, how transportation and distribution is done. We also want to go farther and think about the social part. Are the people making these materials well paid, and are they educated? Because it’s not good if you produce a sustainable piece, but the person who helped make it was a slave.”
As part of the company’s strategy, Lopez and his colleagues are presenting sustainable design options to clients and educating them on the benefits. The leader admits that sustainability can be a hard sell.
“It can be a tedious conversation, because it takes a little longer and costs a bit more,” he says. “But when we show them options that are 100 percent recyclable and that close the cycle of sustainability, some really get into it.”
From an early age, Lopez loved hands-on work. He believes it’s an inherited trait.
“My family always had a woodworking shop, so carpentry and woodworking ran in my veins. I grew up seeing cabinets and furniture being built all day long,” he says.
Those formative experiences inspired him to study industrial design at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. After graduating, he went back to his hometown and worked with an architect for a few years. Then, in 2005, he moved to the US to work as a drafter consultant in Westbury, New York.
In the years that followed, Lopez took on roles of increasing responsibility, including as a director of design engineering, senior industrial designer, director of design, and design development engineer.
In his current role, he’s looking forward to continuing his efforts on sustainable solutions.
“Sustainability is something that everyone needs to be working toward,” he says. “It’s a need, not a luxury anymore.”
